Tahira Sidiq et al.; Saudi J. Biomed. Res.; Vol-1, Iss-1(Mar-May, 2016):30-33

Available Online: http://scholarsmepub.com/sjbr/ 30

Original Research Article

Saudi Journal of Biomedical Research ISSN 2518-3214 (Print) Scholars Middle East Publishers ISSN 2518-3222 (Online)

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Website: http://scholarsmepub.com/

Drug Addiction Causes and Awareness among people of Pulwama District of

Jammu and Kashmir State Tahira Sidiq

1, Bilal Ahmad Bhat

2, Nusrat

3, Feroz Ahmad Wani

4

1Research Scholar Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Institute of Home Science University of Kashmir, 190006,

Jammu and Kashmir, India 2Head, Division of Social Science, Faculty of Fisheries, SKUAST-Kashmir

3Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, University of Kashmir, Srinagar J&K

4Senior Resident, Department of Community Medicine SKIMS Soura, Srinagar

*Corresponding Author: Tahira Sidiq

Email: tahirasidiq86@gmail.com

Abstract: Drug addiction also called substance use disorder is a major preventable cause of morbidity and mortality

worldwide. Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir State is not an exception. The aim of the present study is to know

the awareness of drug addiction among people of Pulwama district of Kashmir valley. 400 persons 200 male and 200

female selected at random from different areas of district Pulwama were asked questions regarding the age at which

people start to use drug, their drug habits, their reason for drug etc. The results obtained in our study presents a horrifying

picture and a threat for the entire society if the menace is not controlled.

Keywords: unemployment, youth, Kashmir, drug abuse, Awareness, Drug Addiction, Substance abuse.

INTRODUCTION

Kashmir valley is thought to be one of the

hardest hit places with drug use and the scenario

worsened by the prevailing turmoil. In today’s world we

are facing more challenges like unemployment, poverty,

corruption, begging, underdevelopment etc. and all

these problems contribute to form a new problem and

that is one of the fast growing problems that is, Drug

addiction in Kashmir valley. Any substances that make

you crave it when you start using it is an addictive

agent; a person who succumbs to feeding the craving is

an addict. Drug addiction is fastest growing problem

among youth in developing countries and in developed

countries. As the time passes through the range of drugs

increased to alarming level, drugs like Narcotics, brown

sugar, opium, morphine, depressants, alcohol, charas

and many more are frequently used by people of

Kashmir valley. It is reported that tobacco, cannabis

(charas), alcohol, benzodiazepines (sleeping pills, like

alprax, valium), opiates (like codeine, heroin,

morphine), brown sugar, Inhalants (like Fevicol SR,

glue, paint thinner, petrol, shoe polish etc) are the major

drugs of abuse in the state of Jammu and Kashmir [1-4].

Kashmir valley has been a witness to the conflict over

the past couple of decades and estimates put the number

of casualties at one hundred thousand. Everybody

knows the situation through which the Kashmir’s have

been going through for the past 25 years or so. Since the

people are more sensitive they were the most harried

lot. In order to get out of the mental block these people

would visit the medical shop in their vicinity and the

person sitting there would prescribe some medicines to

them giving them temporary relief. The geographic

location of Jammu and Kashmir is such that the transit

of drugs is easily possible across the state. In addition

the prevailing turmoil is claimed to have worsened the

drug abuse problem alongside an unusual increase in

other psychiatric disorders in Kashmir. According to [5]

million heroin addicts are registered in India and

unofficially there are as many as 5 million[2].

According to a survey conducted by United

Nations Drug Control Progarmme (UNDCP) there are

seventy thousand drug addicts in Kashmir division

alone including women four thousand. In Kashmir

valley 65% to 70% students are drug addicts. As per

government psychiatric disease hospital statistics 90%

abusers belong to the age group of 17 to 35 years with a

lifetime prevalence of drug addiction. Kashmir as it is

known for its attraction for tourists and migrant laborers

which increase rate of different drug use among drug

addicts. Easily availability from parent gateway drugs

like Cigarette, Naas, Hookah etc are commonly used by

young people aging 12-15 years[3].

Drugs et al. [6] suggests that religion plays a

major role in shaping the individuals world view and

existential understanding. Hindus believe that god Shiva

Tahira Sidiq et al.; Saudi J. Biomed. Res.; Vol-1, Iss-1(Mar-May, 2016):30-33

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was very fond of hemp drugs; theses drugs are still

offered to Shiva in temples on the night of Shivaratri.

Sudan [7] suggested in his study that youth are at the

fore front of violent conflict, often fighting without a

choice. Kashmiri youth have serious psychological and

social difficulties as a result of the ongoing violence

which leads them drug addiction. Nadeem et al. [8]

have mentioned that changing cultural values,

increasing economic stress are leading to initiation in to

substance abuse. The study also showed that

industrialization, urbanization and migration has led to

stresses and strains of modern life.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In the present study both quantitative and

qualitative methods are applied in order to obtain a

holistic insight into the objectives of the study. The

study adopted quantitative techniques using the survey

method because it can empirically test the hypotheses

used in this study. The questionnaire developed was

pre-tested and validated by specialists and experts using

appropriate statistical tools. The survey was carried out

by using interview schedule and targeted at random 400

people, 200 male and 200 female from district Pulwama

of Kashmir valley. The data collected at random from

district Pulwama was carefully analysed using

appropriate statistical tools with the help of Statistical

Package MINITAB.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis: There will be no significant difference in

awareness between male and female respondents

selected for study from Pulwama district of Kashmir

valley.

In order to test the hypothesis, we use

chisquare test and Mann-Whitney U test.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The data presented in Table 1 reveals that

majority of the respondents Male (50.5%) and Female

(53.5%) respondents from Pulwama district agree that

cause of drug addiction addiction among people is bad

company. Further, 22% Male respondents agree that

cause of drug addiction is chance use, 14% think

unemployment, 9% think frustration and 4.5% think

people take drug for fun. Similarly, on examining the

response of Female respondents, it has been observed

that 15.5% think unemployment, 13% think chance use,

9.5% think for fun and 8.5% think people take drug

because of frustration. Statistically, there is a significant

association in opinion between male and female

respondents (p<0.05).

Table-1: Cause of Drug abuse among people of Pulwama district

Respondent Unemployment Frustration Bad Company Chance Use For Fun

Male 28 (14%) 18 (9%) 101 (50.5%) 44 (22.0%) 9(4.5%)

Female 31 (15.5%) 17 (8.5%) 107 (53.5%) 26 (13.0%) 19 (9.5%)

Chisquare = 8.554, P>0.05

The data presented in Table 2 depicts that

majority of the male (47.5%) respondents believe that

people become drug addicted in the age group of 20-30

years, followed by < 20 years age group then 30-40 age

group and finally >40 years age group. Further, the

female respondents in majority (46%) believe that

people become drug addicted at <20 years age followed

by 20-30 years age group then by 30-40 years age group

and finally >40 years of age group. In response to

question (ii) asked the majority of the male (45.5%) not

believe and female (44.5%) respondents believe that

smoking is a door to drug addiction. Statistically,

opinion and gender is significantly associated (p<0.01).

The results obtained in this our study are in agreement

with the earlier studies [9,4].

Table-2: Awareness of drug addiction among People of Pulwama

Question Asked Type Male % Female % Chisquare P-value

i) Age at which you

believe people

become drug

addicted

<20 yrs

20-30

30-40

>40

72

95

24

9

36.0

47.5

12.0

4.5

92

59

32

17

46.0

29.5

16.0

8.5

14.459

<0.01

ii) Do you think that

smoking is a door to

drug addiction

Yes

No

Not Sure

53

91

56

26.5

45.5

28.0

89

52

59

44.5

26.0

29.5

19.841

<0.01

The data presented in Table 3 reveals that in

response to the questions asked to the male and female

respondents both highly agree. However, statistically,

there is a significant difference (p<0.01) between the

opinion of two study groups i.e., male and female

respondents.

Tahira Sidiq et al.; Saudi J. Biomed. Res.; Vol-1, Iss-1(Mar-May, 2016):30-33

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Table-3: Measures to Reduce Drug Addiction among people

Question Asked Male

Median

Female

Median

P-value

i) Govt. Should strictly Ban Smoking/Drugs and its

sale

4.182 4.281 <0.01

ii) Religious Leaders should aware people that

smoking is haram/harmful

4.591 4.631 <0.01

iii) Elder Family Member should aware all family

members about the problems

4.612 4.713 <0.01

iv) By involving drug addicts in games and hobbies

we can overcome this bad habit

4.720 4.711 <0.01

The data presented in Table 4, reveals that

14.5% believe that effect of drug is loss of health, 24%

believe that loss of social status, 9% believe that loss of

wealth and majority of male respondents (52.5%)

believe that all the three reasons are the effects of drug.

Further, in case of n female respondents 17.5% believe

that effect of drug is loss of health, 22% believe that

loss of social status, 16% believe that loss of wealth and

majority of respondents (44.5%) believe that all the

three are the effects of drug. Statistically, there is a

nonsignificant difference between the opinion of

respondents (p>0.05).

Table-4: Effects of Drug abuse on people

Respondent Loss of health Loss of social status Loss of wealth All

Male 29 (14.5%) 48 (24.0%) 18 (9.0%) 105 (52.5%)

Female 35 (17.5%) 44 (22.0%) 32 (16.0%) 89 (44.5%)

Chisquare = 5.976 , p>0.05

CONCLUSION

This study conducted in Pulwama district of

Kashmir valley tries to look at the crucial aspect of drug

awareness and vis-vis treatment of drug addiction. The

study reveals that 94.17% respondents are not aware of

the process of drug de-addiction. Only 3.4%

respondents know about the NGO(s) working in the

field of drug de-addiction and only 5.4% respondents

know about the drug de-addiction centre(s) present in

Kashmir valley. There is a great need for creating

awareness about drug abuse among people. In Kashmir

valley the problem of drug addiction has metastasized

for several reasons. To begin with, the role of the drug

monitoring agencies and police in controlling the

menace in the Kashmir Valley is very poor. In rural

Kashmir, families are unaware if a drug is being abused

in their midst. “The womenfolk don’t know that the

man of the house is an addict. They think he’s taking

medicines. In that case, how can they help him?

Kashmir used to be a low drug addiction zone. But the

latest literature available on the topic reveals that due to

armed conflict there is a free access to drugs and

alcohol. It is observed that there is an increase in the

crime rate, road accidents, suicides and suicidal

attempts, deaths due to overdose, psychiatric disorders

and high cost on general health issues due to chronic

drug abuse like liver disorders, gastritis, accidental

injuries and an increased risk for HIV infections due to

Intravenous Drug Use (IDU). Addiction also causes

irreparable damage to the family structure. People

believe easy availability of the drugs is a huge

contributing factor to addiction. To curb the growing

menace of drug abuse every person of the state of

Jammu and Kashmir should take the responsibility and

join hands with each other against such a problem.

Suggestions

Department of psychiatry, Government

Medical College, Srinagar should take a lead

by conducting awareness and intervention

programs in major districts of Jammu and

Kashmir State. Further, more drug dependence

treatment and counseling centers be formed at

all district levels.

Elders, Religious leaders should come forward

and support all people who want to eliminate

drug abuse from the state of Jammu and

Kashmir.

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Professor M. H.

Balkhi, Dean Faculty of Fisheries, SKUAST-Kashmir

for his help, and the people who participated in this

study.

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